


Up She Rises

by bluspirits



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon, Sailing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 08:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13026834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluspirits/pseuds/bluspirits
Summary: Nina and Inej and the journey home.





	Up She Rises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [makgeolli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/makgeolli/gifts).



> Apologies in advance for any sort of timeline or characterization mistakes, it has been a bit since I read crooked kingdom. 
> 
> To my recipient: Your prompts were wonderful and I really enjoyed writing this! I hope you like it! I wasn't sure how you felt about Nina and Inej's relationship being romantic, so I tried to play this fairly gen, I'm sorry if it seems off or you wanted full romance. Happy holidays!

Inej picks Nina up on the edge of the Fjerdan border, several miles south of Djerholm, where the seas are cold and choppy, full of ice, their grey color matching the sky. The tall mast of the ship comes into view first, piercing the fog that hangs low over the water. It’s several long seconds before Nina can make out any more of the ship, and even then, she has to squint to see any real details of the proud vessel.

Nina stands on the pebble beach, arms wrapped around herself as the wind pierces her cloak and cuts across her skin. With each shift she makes in her futile attempts to keep warm, the rocks beneath her move as well, scraping against each other and keeping her off balance. She stumbles forward slightly, pitching as one of the pebbles beneath her slips and scapes with a grating noise that forces her eyes closed. 

She takes a long, slow breath and watches the cloud of fog hang in the air on her exhale. Every piece of her is cold, and it isn’t all the fault of Fjerda’s horrible climate. 

Her heart has been buried in the ice miles away. She’s not sure she remembers how it feels to be warm. Sometimes she imagines she can hear wolves howling across the ice behind her, but when she turns the expanse is empty. 

A small rowboat slowly approaches, inching through the water to meet her, like a ghost rising out of the fog. Splashing from the steady pace of the oars breaks the eerie silence of the beach. It slams against the rocks with a sound like wood breaking, but the ship remains afloat, so Nina judges it safe. She steps forward, her feet entering the water, and keeps moving before the cold can set in. 

The boat is floating out in water that comes up to mid-calf. She hoists her cloak up and ignores the way her muscles being to seize and cramp. In a fairly ungraceful move, she manages to swing her body into the boat. She jerks her head up to make eye contact with the rower, who is not Inej, a fact makes her cold heart feel just a bit worse. 

Sitting in front of her is a young man, thin and short, with dark hair. Her remains silent, staring at her, and she lets her stare go as cold as everything around them. Without even a bit of heartrending on her part, he nods jerkily and grabs at the oars. 

The journey to the ship is long and icy silent. She stares out into the distance, but can see nothing but fog. 

The rowboat bumps into the side of the ship with a thump that jerks Nina’s attention back to her immediate surroundings. The man nods his head at the ladder of boards attached to the side of the ship, and Nina rises as smoothly as she can manage without falling over into the water. 

She climbs up and pulls herself onto the deck. 

Inej is standing there, hands on her hips, staring at Nina. She looks like a pirate queen, wearing a long coat that flutters in the wind and Nina thinks it might be to impress her, considering how impractical it seems for climbing. She breaks into a smile, and steps forward. Nina raises her arms, and without a word, Inej is in them, clutched tight to Nina’s chest, arms around her. She can feel the wraith’s heartbeat, she doesn’t want to let go. 

“Where’s Kaz?” Nina asks when they've parted, peering around the ship’s deck, as Inej sets to work of some knot, her fingers dancing along the rope. Inej doesn’t look up. 

“Off somewhere, stealing from someone, blackmailing someone else, causing trouble for all.” she glances at Nina, who nods back at her.

“He’ll be back,” Inej adds with complete confidence, and the statement is taken as fact. Neither of them have any reason to doubt it. 

“The ship is beautiful,” Nina offers since its true and she doesn't know what else to say. Inej simply grins at her. 

“Your cabin is this way,” Inej says, already beginning to walk. Nina drifts after her, feeling warmth like flickering candle inside her chest. 

\----

Nina blinks awake slowly, golden sunlight piercing through cracks in the wood of the ship, leaving thin warm lines across her face and the walls. She sits up and stretches, feeling each muscle and bone in her arms move. She shifts through several stretches, her arms above her head, crossed over her chest, reaching for her toes. 

There’s a hollow knock at the door to her cabin. Inej stands there, one hand holding the door frame, the other on her hip. 

“You’re awake,” she says, nodding. A small smile edges across her face as she looks Nina up and down. Nina raises an eyebrow at the slow glance. 

“Like what you see?” she asks, leaning forward just a little. 

Inej scoffs and drops her arm, letting it swing for moment. She stares at the top of Nina’s head. “Your hair looks like something died in it.” 

With that announcement, she simply turns and leaves. 

“Wait,” Nina calls after her. “What about breakfast?” 

“Follow me and maybe you’ll get some,” Inej says, her voice almost lost in the creaking boards of the ship. Nina manages to get to her feet and stumbles after her. She follows her through a long room much larger, brighter, and more open than Nina expected from her previous experience with ships, lined with hammocks. Several are occupied, and snoring fills the air. 

Inej stops at a long table. Three people sit around it, silently eating. Two men and a girl. None of them look up at Nina. Inej grabs biscuits from the table and hands one to Nina, who takes it gratefully.

One of the men nods at Inej, with a muttered, “Cap’n.”

“Do you have any waffles here?” Nina asks after a second, once she’s finished chewing. 

She gets a startled laugh from Inej, and confused looks from the crewmembers. 

“No, no waffles. It’s hard to make them on a moving ship.” 

Nina frowns, pouting at Inej, whose eyes scrunch shut as she laughs. 

“Maybe next time we make port,” she offers. 

“Maybe?” 

“Fine. Next time we make port, we will get waffles.” 

“And pancakes? And-” Nina starts, but is cut off. 

“Yes, yes. All the breakfast food imaginable.” Inej sighs and glances up at the ceiling. 

“You’re the best, Inej,” Nina says, smiling sweetly at the wraith, who scoffs and ducks her head, but grins right back at Nina when she looks back up. 

“Aren’t you going to introduce me,” Nina says, waving an arm at the crewmembers who have been watching the whole exchange. She leans forward against the table and smiles at them. 

Inej sighs again. “Yes. Introductions.” 

“This is Andrei,” Inej says, pointing at a large man with brown curls and a chest like a barrel made of muscle. Andrei nods but barely glances up from his food at her. Nina is a little hurt. 

“This is Johan,” Inej moves down the line and points at another man, slouching next to Andrei, much thinner and shorter, with black hair falling in his eyes. 

“And this is Netty,” Inej points at a small girl with curly dark hair pulled up into a bun. Netty smiles wide and waves at Nina, almost bouncing out of her seat. 

“The rest are around here somewhere. You’ll meet them.” 

“How many are there?” Nina asks, looking back at the hammocks they had past on their way over. 

“25,” Inej answers without pause. “And then you and me.” 

“The captain and-” Nina pauses for the barest second, searching for the words to explain what this is. 

“Her honored guest,” Inej finishes, tossing another biscuit at Nina, who snatches it out of the air. 

“Sounds about right,” she agrees, mouth half full. 

\----

The air is getting warmer as they turn away from Fjerda, but Nina still keeps her cloak wrapped around her as she climbs up onto the deck. There is  
enough cool wind to make her shiver occasionally, and bring her mind back to the ice.

The night and the sea blend together, only the silver moonlight on the water showing the separation. 

No one is up on the deck but Inej, the ship gently drifting without guidance. The wraith stands with her back to Nina, her braid swaying gently. Nina approaches, making her best attempt at imitating Inej’s sneaking, keeping her footsteps light, moving slowly and deliberately. 

Unfortunately, the ship conspires to ruin her plans. The boards creak and groan under her feet no matter how carefully she steps, and Inej turns her head. 

“You can’t sneak up on me,” she says, meeting Nina’s eyes. 

“That doesn’t stop me from trying.” she doesn’t look away, smiling softly. “Someday I’ll get you.” 

“Unlikely,” Inej scoffs.

“I don’t appreciate your doubt.” Nina stands next to Inej. The wraith laughs. Her head falls backwards and stays there for several seconds, staring up at the sky. 

“Hey. I want to show you something,” she says, touching Nina’s arm through the cloak. 

“What’s that?” 

“Follow me.” Inej turns suddenly, spinning on her heel. Nina simply stares as she hops up onto the railing of the ship and wraps a hand around the rigging. 

“I don’t like this idea,” Nina says. 

Inej frowns down at her. “Come on. It’s worth it.” 

Inej wraps her hands around the ropes and begins to climb, nimble as a spider, and perfectly at ease. Nina watches skeptically, before she steps over and pulls herself up onto the railing. Immediately, a strong wind whips past her, seizing her cloak, and pulling her backwards. She yelps and grabs at the ropes, only barely keeping herself from a swim. 

Inej looks down at her, as she clutches desperately at the rigging. 

“Are you alright?” she shouts down at Nina. 

“Great, great.” 

She places her foot into the rigging and begins to pull herself upwards, eyes nearly closed as she tries to keep from looking down. The wind whistles around her and does its best to pry her from the ship. Inej easily makes it to the top and pulls herself up and into what Nina thinks is the crow’s nest. 

“If I fall to my death, you better write me a really good eulogy. Something that’d make Kaz cry,” Nina yells, pausing in her climb. The only response is a laugh from above her.

It takes several more minutes for Nina to catch up with Inej. She drags herself over the edge of the crow’s nest and collapses next to Inej, who simply grins at her. Nina runs a hand through her wind tangled hair and straightens her cloak. 

“Was that necessary?” she asks. 

“Yes,” Inej says. She points up at the sky. “Look.”

Nina follows the line of her finger to look up at the night sky. 

There are no clouds tonight. Simply a black so deep it looks blue, lit up by thousands of stars that look like crystals. There weren’t this many stars in Os Alta, nowhere near this many in Ketterdam, and nothing like it in Fjerda. 

She wonders where they’ve been hiding this whole time. 

“I told you,” Inej says, watching Nina’s face as she stares up at the stars, mouth hanging open. 

“I’ll never doubt you again,” Nina answers absently. 

“I doubt that’s true,” Inej says, sounding pretty satisfied with herself. She crosses her arms and leans against Nina, looking up too. Nina glances at her. She thinks that out here, at peace, Inej might just be as beautiful as the stars. 

She throws an arm around Inej and waits until her breathing evens out, watching sky. 

When the wraith is asleep, Nina tugs the cloak out from underneath her. She throws it over herself and Inej, the warm fur against the wraith’s cheek, the cloth covering her entire body. Sighing, she slouches further under the cloak and wraps her arm around Inej again. 

Then she looks up at the sky, counts the stars, and convinces herself she sees wolves and crows. 

\----

The sun is setting, drifting down past the horizon faster than Nina would like, and the sky is cloudy. She is not looking forward to full night, considering how navigating around the ship after dark is proving a challenge for her. 

The sky is full of colors, the deck of the ship painted pink and orange. Various crew members wander around slowly performing the jobs. 

Inej steps down from the helm and crosses the deck to meet Nina. Nina taps her fingers against her thigh, waiting for Inej to step within arms reach. The wraith stops about a foot away and raises an eyebrow. 

“Wha-” she starts. 

Nina grabs Inej by the arms, and lifts her clear off the deck. Inej lets out a decidedly unwraith-like yelp as Nina swings her around in a circle. When Nina lets her grip relax, Inej drops to the ground, landing lightly on the tips of her feet. 

“What-” she begins when she catches her breath, before Nina cuts her off, laughing. 

“Dance with me!” 

Inej raises an eyebrow, and Nina reaches her hands out again, palms up. Inej places her hands on Nina’s slowly, eyes darting back and forth between Nina’s hands and her face, waiting for another surprise. Nina gently grasps Inej’s hands, smiling. 

She tugs Inej a little closer, and the wraith only resists for a second. Nina watches as from behind Inej, Netty and Andrei climb up on deck. They stop at the top of the ladder and stare, before grinning. Andrei looks like he’s choking as he tries not to laugh. Nina stretches her neck a little to peer over Inej’s head and winks at them. Andrei nearly collapses. 

Inej jerks back at the noise and whips her head around. She spots the crewmembers and glares at them. None of them seem cowed. 

Netty glances around the deck, and then raises her foot and brings it down hard, stomping on the deck. Nina, Inej, and Andrei blink in confusion. A half beat later, she repeats the motion. And again, and again, until a rhythm has formed, until they get it. 

Nina laughs, letting her head fall forward so her chin rests on Inej’s head. Inej shifts forward and turns to rest her cheek on Nina’s chest.  
Then Nina begins to move. She steps backwards, in time with the stomping, pulling Inej with her. 

She moves slowly, gently leading. She steps to the left, then spins around, and Inej tenses, but follows her. She steps forward, 

“I thought the wraith was supposed to be graceful?” she laughs. 

Inej glares up at her. “You try walking a tightrope.” 

“No thank you.” Nina shakes her head. She continues to move through basic steps, swaying. Inej begins to relax, her grip on Nina loosening as she finds the pattern. Nina pauses and raises an arm. Inej simply stares at her, looking unimpressed. 

“This is where you spin,” Nina stage-whispers. 

“Mmhmm,” Inej rolls her eyes, but spins. Of course it’s perfect. She comes to a stop and pulls on Nina’s arms, tugging her forward and into several more steps, Inej leading this time. 

Nina smiles as the wraith guides her through the steps, moving confidently now. She can hear the sound of a boot against the deck, of the waves gently lapping against the side of the ship, of Inej’s calm, slow breathing. 

Inej turns her a little fast, and before she can think, a hand is on her back, and she’s falling. Right into Inej’s arms. 

Inej grins down at her. She stares in shock for a moment before laughter comes bubbling out of her. She clutches at Inej’s shoulders and laughs until she can feel tears in her eyes. Inej sets her down on the deck gently and watches. Nina sighs and runs a hand through her hair, still smiling. She clambers to her feet. 

Nina holds an arm out towards the crew. She waves her hand at them. 

“Come on,” she prompts. The three look at each other. Netty steps forward, smiling wide and takes Nina’s hand. She isn’t much taller than Inej, and is nervous at first, but compensates with enthusiasm. When she misses a step, she laughs. 

Andrei begins to clap, providing a rhythm and Johan starts to sing, some shanty that Nina doesn’t know. 

She can hear Inej laughing as she ducks under Netty’s arm in an attempt to spin. 

\----

The ship pitches and tilts as the ocean outside tries to tear it apart. Nina can hear the groaning of the timbers in the hull, and the noise grates against her bones. Every time the ship rises and drops, her stomach goes with it. 

She can feel the salt mist of the ocean hanging in the air, left behind by each swell. Enough water splashes in to wet her cheeks and dampen her clothes. Outside her room, where she sits, arms braced against the walls, she can hear shouting. It’s barely audible over the rain pounding against the deck like a thousand drumbeats. 

A yell carries through the chaos, a voice that sounds something like Inej. The wind continues to howl. Nina thinks about wolves bearing down on them, and wonders if the animals can swim. 

Another shout, this time closer to a scream. Nina shifts forward, arms leaving the walls. The ship rises, and she sucks in a breath and stays upright through sheer force of will. 

With another deep breath, she stands, hoping that this is some kind of lull. As soon as she rises, the ship begins to tip forward, and Nina goes with it, crashing to the floor. Water meets her hands and knees as she lands, splashing over her and chilling her down to the bone. Shaking her damp hair out of her face and frowning like she can glare the storm into submission, she pulls herself back up, steadying herself against the door frame. 

She gives her heart several seconds to stop pounding. Then she forces her feet forward, giving up on any attempt at grace, letting the movement of the ship throw her forward. Climbing onto the deck is a trial, as the ship moves and gravity conspires to pull her down. 

She finds herself on all fours on the deck as rain pounds against her back like knives, cold and sharp. A massive wave slams into the ship, breaking over the side. A tower of rushing white water rises into the air before slamming down and rushing to the other side of the ship. Nina barely processes it before it grabs her and slams her into the railing. 

She clings to the wood, struggling to remain on the ship. Salt water works its way down her throat, burning and choking her. She spits out water. Her wet hair sticks to her cheeks, and her soaked clothes are like weights tied to her body. 

She looks around, arms still wrapped around the railing, too afraid to move. Inej stands by the wheel, upright and proud, yelling orders and pointing. She looks powerful enough to fight the storm. Crew members run across the deck, dashing from handhold to handhold, many being caught by the waves and coming close to death. More than she would have expected hang from the rigging, tying off ropes and braving the winds and rain. 

Her breathing and heartbeat have steadied when another wave comes. She watches, muscles tensing, as Andrei sprints across the deck, hands out to grasp the ropes of the mast. Everything slows down as the wave hits, water flooding across the deck and crashing down on top of him. Nina can’t see anything in the rush of white. It slams into her next, pressing her against the wood of the rail and holding her there.

She feels the impact of Andrei as he crashes into her. She gasps, and water floods into her open mouth. Choking and sputtering, she manages to force a hand around Andrei, who is limp and still. 

The water recedes after what feels like an eternity, leaving her clutching his motionless body. She coughs violently, throat spasming, and drops him to the ground so he’s laying on his back. There is still no movement. His chest does not rise or fall. The rain pounds against his motionless face. 

A spark of panic travels from Nina’s throat all the way down to her toes, faster than the sight of any wave. She snaps forward, takes bother of her hands, and slams them down onto the center of his chest. 

Nothing changes. She does it again. Still no motion. Gasping for air, and her eyes watering she sits back on her heels. She shakes her head and leans back down. 

Nina pounds her hands against his chest. 

She remembers doing this in her training with the Second Army. She knows that if things were the way they had been, then with each hit, she would force the blood to move, to pump further. She would tighten his throat, forcing the water back up. She would keep his lungs full. 

Now, she just hopes against hope that her powers will not be needed, will not be an option. That she won’t be holding a corpse. 

She keeps pressing. 

Her arms burn, muscles cramping. Waves still come, but small enough to simply pick up Andrei and carry him several inches away. She keeps pressing.  
Inej shouts something, and she turns, looking up towards the helm. 

That’s when she hears something like a cough. She looks back down at Andrei. His throat twitches, and his chest jerks. He rolls over suddenly, forcing Nina to scramble away as he retches, water and bile coming back up. 

Nina sits back on her heels and exhales, letting her head fall backwards. She stares up at the grey sky, as furious as the sea beneath it and feels warm. 

\----

“Are we headed for Ketterdam?” Nina asks. It's the first time she’s asked about destination during the trip. She has simply trusted Inej’s course, even if she didn’t know what it was. 

But now, the weather feels too warm for Kerch, the sea too turquoise and not brown enough, and a complete lack of fog, even in the mornings.  
Inej doesn’t answer, sitting with her legs folded up in some kind of position Nina knows she never could achieve, staring intently at maps spread out on the deck. 

“Inej?” she prompts.

“We can swing by,” the wraith finally says, glancing up at Nina hesitantly. “If that’s where you want to be.” 

Nina shrugs. “There’s not much useful for me to do here.” 

“I thought maybe you could use a break.” Inej looks out at the ocean, and Nina can’t tell what she’s thinking. “And you helped during the storm. Andrei would be dead without you.” 

Nina nods and follows Inej’s gaze. There’s nothing out there but flat blue ocean. A warm wind rolls past, tangling in Nina’s hair. 

“And the break’s been nice,” she says. She bends over to get a closer look at Inej’s map. “Where are we?” she points at the paper. 

Inej doesn’t even to have to pause to think about it. She points at the ocean by the bottom of Novyi Zem, near Reb Harbor. According to Inej’s finger, which Nina trusts, they aren’t far from the coast. 

“Are we just here for the sightseeing?” Nina asks. She has to admit, the calm ocean all around them is gorgeous. But a woman can get bored with the same view for days, no matter how pretty. 

Inej shakes her head but doesn’t say anything else. She watches Nina, and the heartrender feels like she’s being examined for something. 

“I’m alright to fight, you know,” she says, eyeing Inej and waiting for her reaction. 

The wraith simply exhales and nods. “I know.” 

“There are a lot of dead bodies in the ocean. I’m really excited to give the army of drowned undead thing a try.” 

“I know.” Inej repeats. While her words have remained the same, her eyes brighten, and Nina thinks she can catch the edge of smile on the other girl’s lips. 

“So, any fighting out here? Any justice to enact, any treasure to be stolen?” she waves an arm at the expanse of the ocean. 

Inej smiles and shakes her head, looking out at the sea. Then she folds up her maps and turns to stare up at Nina, smiling. 

“So? Justice? Treasure? Or fights?” Nina asks. 

“How do you feel about all three?” Inej points out towards the horizon. Nina squints, and thinks that she can just maybe see a blur that could be another ship. 

“What’s that?” she raises an eyebrow. There’s no way Inej’s eyesight is that much better than her’s. This screams planned. 

Inej sees her skeptical face and takes her hand. “Some fun.” 

Nina watches Inej’s face for a second, taking in the hope written all over it. She needs Nina to say yes, to prove that she’s fine. And in that instant, Nina knows that she is. 

She tightens her grip on Inej’s hand, warmth running through her. 

“Okay then. Let’s have some fun.”


End file.
